Thank God for weekends! So I did actually find enough energy to write the second part of the previous chapter; yay! I would apologize for the delay, but at this point if you've read enough of my stories you know it's just a given... -_- Anyway, enjoy. :)
Shia Letap paced worriedly in the hall with the rest of her clan. Their Minder had told her to lead everyone back to their rooms, but she couldn't; what if he found Master Skywalker?
"We should go back," Sors, a friend of hers, said, rubbing his hands together nervously. "Kita said they were really mad."
"What if Master Skywalker gets in a lot of trouble? What if he gets found?"
"What are we going to do?"
Shia stomped and held a hand up. She was the eldest; she had to be in charge. "Stop! We'll go back. We'll make sure Master Skywalker isn't in trouble. And then we can go to bed."
The younglings nodded nervously, and as they all crept back towards the room they had just left, they saw Master Windu leave, looking very angry. Shia and the others hid, and then they watched in horror as they saw some Jedi drag Master Skywalker out. Master Skywalker looked even worse than before, and Shia knew they wouldn't take him somewhere nice. They'd probably ground him like they grounded her when she got in trouble!
"What are we going to do?" one of the others asked, horrified.
"We're going to get him out of trouble!" Shia replied firmly.
"But where are they gonna put him? Do they have a special room when Knights get in trouble?" another asked.
"I don't know…" Shia looked back to see the Jedi vanishing down a corner. "Let's go see!"
"But what about Master Chen?" Sors reminded them. "He's gonna be really mad when he checks and sees we're not in bed!"
"It doesn't matter!" another youngling piped in strongly. "Master Skywalker's gonna be so badly grounded! We have to help him!"
"What do you think they'll do to him?"
"Well they probably won't let him have desserts," one of them said thoughtfully. "Master Chen never lets me have dessert when I'm in trouble."
"They could take stuff away from him!"
Shia gasped. "What if they take his lightsaber?"
All the younglings gasped. Such a bad thing could never be allowed to happen. Following the two Jedi who had been dragging Master Skywalker, the children went all the way to a lower level where they saw Master Skywalker get thrown into a small room that had nothing in it. A ray shield appeared over the door, and then the two Jedi stood on either side of the doorway. The children quickly returned to another hall.
"He must really be in trouble."
"They think he's become a Sith!" Shia suddenly realized with horror. "When the Sith Lord put a spell on Master Skywalker, Master Windu must have started thinking he became a Sith!"
"But he's not!"
"I know that!"
"But what are we gonna do?!"
Shia stopped everyone's panic. "We're gonna get him out – some of us can pretend we're sick or hurt and that'll get them to leave. Then somebody can go in and open the door!"
"How are we going to open the door?" Sors asked. "There's a ray shield!"
"I'm the best at stuff with wires and pushing buttons!" another youngling, Jeswi Ele, raised her hand with great importance.
"Okay," Shia nodded, puffing out her chest and making herself taller. As the eldest in the Bear Clan, she had to be a good leader and come up with a plan. "So Sors will talk to them because somebody'll pretend to be sick or hurt, and then Jeswi can turn the shield off. Everybody else has to make sure the guards don't go back while Jeswi is turning the shield off. Got it?"
Everyone nodded, and they were off. One of the younglings tripped himself with the help of another youngling and began to cry loudly just as Sors ran into the room. Shia and some of the others watched.
"Please, Masters, help!" he yelled. "Manny's hurt!"
The Jedi exchanged glances. "What happened, young one?"
"Manny tripped," Sors explained quickly. "But he's hurt! Please come help!"
One of the Knights nodded and followed Sors, but the other one stayed behind. The younglings looked at each other in a panic. Shia looked around wildly and then ran to some stairs, jumping down a few before making sure she fell down the last one. She yelled out as she scraped her hand and hurt her arm, but she knew it would get their attention – after all, she remembered when Master Skywalker had told a story about hurting himself on purpose to distract some guards so his friends could rescue kidnapped children on Tatooine.
Her friends noticed and then called to the other Knight to get his attention.
Meanwhile, Jeswi watched as they successfully got both Knights from the door. The second Knight didn't seem like he wanted to leave, and he kept looking back at Master Skywalker, but Master Skywalker looked like he was fast asleep, so the Knight left hurriedly. Jeswi immediately ran over with her friend Xifi. The two looked at the control pad beside the doorway. It was awfully tall – Jeswi could barely reach the bottom.
"How are we going to turn it off?" Xifi asked worriedly.
Master Skywalker suddenly stirred and looked at them. His eyes were bloodshot, but he looked like he had been awake for a while.
"Master Skywalker!" the two whispered.
He shot them a funny look. "What are you two doing here?"
"We're getting you out!" Xifi explained while Jeswi hopped up and down frantically to reach one of the buttons.
Master Skywalker watched the two for a moment before shaking his head and getting on his knees in front of the shield so he was at eye level with the girls. "No, no… just go… it's useless… I… get out of here before you get in trouble."
"Master Skywalker, we know you're not bad!" Jeswi said determinedly as she leapt continuously.
"You don't know anything," Master Skywalker said, sounding a little angry. "I… Master Windu… Palpatine…"
Jeswi and Xifi paused, but then Jeswi snapped her fingers. "I've got it! Xifi, let me stand on your shoulders!"
Master Skywalker didn't seem to notice the two girls again until Jeswi had started to balance on Xifi's shoulders. He watched them dully, his focus fading, while Jeswi slammed the button that would turn the shield off – at least she thought it would; it was the biggest button, after all.
"Why—didn't—it—open?" Xifi asked in a strained voice as she tap danced to keep her balance.
"It must be locked!" Jeswi gasped. "But—maybe I could pull the cover off!"
Master Skywalker immediately seemed to remember the girls were there. "Wait—no, you'll hurt yourself!"
Xifi gasped. "Jeswi, they're coming back!"
Jeswi immediately started to dig her fingers under the panel cover and tried to pry it off. She finally managed to do so, but she cut one of her fingers in the process and let out a hiss. Biting back sobs as the tears started to stream down her face, Jeswi stared helplessly at the wires.
"Which one?" Xifi asked.
"I don't know…" Jeswi answered.
"Stop!" Master Skywalker tried to order them, but the two wouldn't listen.
"We're not letting them ground you!" Jeswi argued as she reached to pull a wire.
"Wait!" Master Skywalker desperately whispered. "Look, it's the blue wire—now if you want to pull it fine, but—just don't hurt yourself, okay?"
Jeswi pulled the wire in question and the shield disappeared. The two were so elated that Xifi lost her balance, causing Master Skywalker to leap forward and catch both girls. His grip was shaky, his hands trembling badly, and his breathing wasn't normal. He was paler than Jeswi's favorite fluffy white pillow.
"Now go," he whispered, his voice fading. His hands started to tremble too much to hold the girls properly, and so they slipped out of his grip and started to drag him out of the room. He tried to argue, but they both hushed him with a loud "Sshh!" before half dragging him out of the room. As soon as the other younglings noticed their predicament they helped, and within a few minutes the entire Bear Clan was half carrying Master Skywalker.
Jeswi heard the Knights yell out as they realized Master Skywalker was missing. She looked at Shia for guidance, terrified. Shia paused and thought about where to go before nodding and smiling confidently at the younglings.
Kita paced the hall when she suddenly heard someone's comlink chime. She turned to see Shaak Ti answering the call.
"This is Master Ti," she said.
"Master Ti, it's Skywalker—he's gone!"
Kita froze. How could Anakin have gotten out? He was too worn out to be a problem to anybody!
When did he get out? She asked frantically at the same moment Maser Ti did so.
"We just got back—we only lost sight of him for less than three minutes!"
"What do you mean you lost sight of him? How did he get out?"
"Well, these younglings… they were saying one of them was hurt—"
"Younglings?" Master Ti sounded bewildered. "All the younglings are in bed."
Kita gasped. Except for…
Turning and running (she seemed to be doing a lot of that tonight), Kita made her way to the sleeping quarters for the Bear Clan.
They were empty.
Son of a Sith harlot! Kita cursed, stomping one of her paws. Where in the blazes had those puppies gone?! What were they thinking?!
The Temple was at full alert. Knights were patrolling the hallways searching both for Skywalker and for any sign of treachery from the numerous clones stationed on the planet. Kita ran through the halls frantically, trying to sense out the presence of the Bear Clan. Their Minder hadn't been notified yet simply because Kita hadn't told anyone which group of younglings had caused the problem, and so she was the only one on the scent.
Eventually their signatures began to glow ever closer until she ran into an empty star chart room. The lights were all off but a dim hologram of constellations was lazily orbiting around the circular room. A strange hum filled the air, not quite electronic but not quite organic. Part of it Kita attributed to the holograms themselves, but the other part…
Was that singing?
Kita slowly entered the room and the door silently slid shut behind her. She could make out little shapes that were cut out of the dim light glowing in the room. Judging from her senses it was the Bear Clan, and she could tell they were all gathered around something. Through the Force she sensed anxiety, stress, and fear, but its throbbing was beginning to fade. Instead she sensed concern, love, excitement, and peace start to blend together in a strange warm mix, easing her tense muscles. Kita slowly walked closer and could distinguish the melody of the clan's favorite lullaby as they all sang it to a prone figure in the middle of their circle.
Although she was sorely tempted to chastise the puppies for their actions, the scene was too beautiful for her to disrupt it. Instead, Kita simply sat there and watched, not wanting to leave them unguarded due to the heightened threat from the clones. The younglings swayed side to side like flowers in the wind, some holding hands, some with their eyes closed, and some looking around wildly and excitably like it was a great adventure. They continued singing on and on, some of them mumbling words they didn't know while others began to belt in triumph at having the verse memorized. At one point a youngling stood to his feet in delight that he was the only one of two to remember the words, but as he began to belt the lyrics the others hushed him with violent hisses, making a ripple of annoyance and anxiety surge through the room fleetingly before it returned to its previous state.
Kita continued to watch them, allowing her mind to relax in the gentle tenderness that sang through the Force. The occasional concern for the threat looming over all of them tried to sear its way back into her mind, but she couldn't quite fathom the danger from in here. It seemed like an eternity passed; whenever the puppies ran out of verses they would just start over again, making it an endless hum of little voices doing what they thought was best for a friend.
Suddenly, seeing such tenderness made Kita begin to choke up a little. It had been far too long since she had seen such emotion; the war had killed anything beautiful and dear about life, or at least so it had seemed. If they could just survive this one last nightmare, then everything could only get better… right?
Kita didn't know what the future would bring at this point; with Palpatine dead at a Jedi's hand, anything could happen. To say the galaxy was volatile at this point in time was a huge understatement; this fiasco was going to explode. Palpatine was loved by the people, but so were the Jedi. She didn't know what was going to happen. But she did know she'd hold this moment in her heart, no matter the future. The care and compassion showed by these puppies would always be her reminder of the good that people were capable of.
Letting out a chuckle at her own thoughts, Kita sighed, I'm getting inordinately sappy now…
She supposed she needed it after all the hell that had been happening.
The humming eventually began to shudder and shift, alerting Kita. She looked at the younglings to see that some were putting themselves to sleep with their lullaby, sagging as they sat beside each other. Their charge had been asleep since before Kita had even entered, so she doubted he'd be a concern at this point. Finally, after a long period of time, the last youngling's voice shook and grew breathy and faded into the gentle discreet hum of the holoprojector. Kita was left sitting there watching all of them piled on top of each other snoring as the holographic constellations orbited above them.
Smiling, Kita rearranged the puppies so that they were at least in comfortable positions, but she was too concerned to leave the room to get pillows and blankets for everyone. The peace of the scene was beginning to fade in her mind as her fears of treachery from the Republic and its troops returned. Kita began to pace restlessly, trying to keep herself calm but not really succeeding. Reaching out into the Force, she sensed the anxiety of the other Jedi, but not alarm or any new danger. At least they were safe for now, it seemed.
However, she did also sense that the Bear Clan's minder, Master Chen, had finally realized the missing younglings were his. She sensed him frantically searching the Temple. Kita wasn't sure if she should go to him and explain where they were; he had a right to know, particularly since he was just concerned for their safety. At the same time, however, Kita didn't want Anakin getting stuck in a cell again. Judging from his extremely calm and placid presence in the Force, he was far better off here with the clan than in a cell.
Eventually Kita risked exiting the room. When she did, she understood Master Chen's panic; she could see sunlight beginning to glow in the sky. Had she really been up all night?
Master Chen was very close now, having searched most of the Temple. Using the Force, Kita decided to call him over. He ran to her immediately.
"Kita, do you know where my clan is?" he asked breathlessly.
Kita nodded. Yes, I do. They're safe; that's all you need to know.
Master Chen paused in mid-breath, and his eyes began to grow stormy. Before he could make a remark, however, Kita interrupted him. I understand your anger, Master Chen; they are your responsibility, after all. However, I'm not saying this because I don't trust you with them. I'm saying it because for now it's better that you focus on the larger threat at hand. I'll take care of the puppies.
"At least tell me why they weren't in their room," Master Chen said, calming considerably after her logical argument.
Kita paused. She wasn't sure how she'd explain this. She didn't want him to panic because Anakin was with the puppies. They were scared because of everything going on. They felt safer elsewhere.
Master Chen stood still, and Kita wasn't sure if he'd accept her statement or not. Like every other Jedi in the Temple (except Yoda and Anakin), Kita had watched him grow from infancy and knew his habits; he was very good and determining if someone was lying or not. Thankfully, though, he trusted Kita enough to not argue against her vague response.
Suddenly, appearing out of nowhere, Master Windu stormed into the hallway, his enraged signature in the Force filling the hall to the brim. He was probing through the Force, and through his actions Kita could read his emotions like an open book. He was angry at Anakin for what he had done; he was worried that it was too late to save the Republic and the Jedi; he was upset that Kita was—wait, what?
Was he really so caught up in the situation that he still hadn't…?
Kita laughed. Then she barked.
Master Windu froze. Turning around slowly, he locked eyes with her. "Kita?"
Shouldn't you be in the med-center? Kita asked, genuinely worried for him. Your hands were cut off… that's not just some scratch you shrug off.
"Skywalker's missing," Master Windu said grimly, though not as angrily as before. "But I thought… you were… you…"
Anakin saved me. Kita explained. He could have saved Palpatine but he chose me.
Before Mace could reply, another presence seemingly appeared out of nowhere, though Kita was sure that was simply distraction on her part. Judging from the overwhelming amounts of anxiety rolling off this person she probably could have sensed him before he even entered orbit of Coruscant.
"Where's Anakin?" Obi-Wan immediately asked. "What's happened?"
"Master Kenobi…? You were on Utapau." Mace seemed really confused now.
"Kita called me here," Obi-Wan explained hurriedly. "She said the Sith Lord had been revealed and that something was wrong with Anakin."
"It was the chancellor," Master Windu explained, his tone flat. "He's been orchestrating everything."
Obi-Wan stood planted in his spot, his mouth slightly open as emotions swept over him. Kita sensed his horror at the thought that their own leader was their worst enemy, and then panic and anger surged through him. Kita blanched; it was a strange thing to sense anger from Obi-Wan, but she quickly realized it was due to protectiveness. Obi-Wan was angry over Palpatine's manipulation of Anakin… and he was terrified. She felt him sense out for his former Padawan, but Kita attempted to block Anakin's presence in the Force so Mace and Chen wouldn't find him. Despite her best efforts, though, Obi-Wan shoved past her and ran into the star chart room, having forged a bond with the puppy that went far deeper than the one Kita had.
The other Jedi entered the room behind him, leaving Kita to hurriedly follow. Master Windu flicked on the lights, startling the younglings awake. Anakin still looked very pale, particularly against the stark light of the holograms, but he also looked peaceful… at least until he sensed Obi-Wan approaching him.
Anakin's eyes opened and he jerked himself into a sitting position. Wondering what had awoken him, he warily looked around the room and his eyes immediately fell upon his former teacher. His eyes widened slightly, and his mouth fell a little slack. Terror filled him, and then dread and shame. He turned away, unable to speak.
"Anakin," Obi-Wan said to get his attention. He sounded even more concerned than before; Anakin's appearance probably did little to reassure him.
"Step aside, Master Kenobi," Mace ordered determinedly as he approached the pup. As Obi-Wan turned to ask what Mace was going on about, he abruptly noticed the man's injuries.
"Master Windu—your hands—" he stammered, pointing to where the appendages should have been. Kita watched the injured Jedi Master carefully; honestly, it was a miracle he hadn't passed out at this point. He and Anakin both had that insane amount of stubbornness in common.
"Your former Padawan did that when he defended the Sith from me," Master Windu snapped. Obi-Wan flinched as if he had received a physical blow, and Anakin nearly shriveled under his scrutiny.
"You… did what?" Obi-Wan asked breathlessly.
Anakin shook his head fiercely, closing his eyes. "No… Master… I… just go… just leave me alone… I don't deserve…"
Shaking his head even more violently, Anakin leapt to his feet, gathering the Force around him with such ferocious strength that Kita ran to the younglings to protect them. He aimed the energy at the elders, however, shoving them out of his way as he fled the room. The distressed puppies called out to him, but Master Chen took charge of them, calming them, leaving Kita, Obi-Wan, and Mace to run after Anakin.
Master Windu shot ahead of all of them, using the same sort of fight-or-flight response that Anakin was utilizing. He turned down a hallway that would intercept with Anakin from the front, but Anakin didn't notice, simply plowing ahead at full speed. Both Kita and Obi-Wan called after him.
Eventually Anakin stopped abruptly, nearly tripping over himself to do so. Mace and Shaak Ti were in front of him, advancing slowly, while Kita and Obi-Wan approached him from behind. He was boxed in. Standing alone on some stairs, Anakin whirled around wildly, his bloodshot eyes darting from person to person before he finally just stopped and blew out a sigh, sitting on the steps in defeat.
Obi-Wan spoke first. "Anakin, what happened? What did you do?"
"I… I…" Anakin struggled to put words together, his terror overwhelming any rational thought. Kita sensed whirls of images; she could see Anakin running so many scenarios through his head. She saw Obi-Wan rejecting Anakin for what he had done, she saw Mace killing Anakin, she saw Anakin running away before they could get to him, she saw the chancellor's office all over again and watched Anakin defend Palpatine again, she saw a woman screaming in pain—wait, who was that? Anakin spoke again, erasing the image from her head. "Kita killed Palpatine."
Obi-Wan and Shaak both gawked at Kita. Apparently Mace hadn't spoken in too much detail about the fight with Palpatine.
A chuckle caught their attention again as Anakin began to cackle from the situation. "The mighty Sith Lord was killed by a dog…"
Anakin began to laugh madly now just as he had on the landing platform at the chancellor's office. His laughter sounded more hopeless and helpless than mirthful, and Kita felt her stomach knotting just hearing it.
"Enough of this," Mace said, stepping towards Anakin. "Skywalker should be put on trial as a Sith."
Anakin paused and then began to laugh even harder. "I thought Sith were too dangerous to be kept alive! Kill me, Master! Just kill me!"
Obi-Wan could only watch, frozen, totally at a loss as to what to do. He was obviously overwhelmed, never having seen his former Padawan in such a state.
Kita had had bloody enough of this. As Master Windu approached Anakin to bind his hands (with the Force's help, of course, seeing as he didn't have hands to do the trick), Kita thrust forward, snarling and baring her teeth at the Jedi Master. That's enough, Mace! I've had it with Anakin's "special treatment" – it's time we treated him like any other Jedi!
"What are you talking about?" Master Windu snapped. "Any other Jedi would be expelled from the Order, as he will be!"
Really? Kita retorted, still growling with enough menace to make the Jedi Master take a small step back. Just look at him, Master Windu! He's sick, tired, and emotionally compromised. If you saw this in any other Jedi you'd have them sent to the Halls of Healing, but since this is Special Skywalker who either gets it all right or all wrong you automatically assume that he's gone evil and must be killed!
"He defended Palpatine—"
Yes, and then he saved my life! Kita interrupted.
"He did what?" Obi-Wan finally spoke up.
Kita her head so she could see both Jedi. When I entered the Sith Lord's office I saw that Master Windu was about to finish him off. Anakin said he had to stand trial, Mace disagreed. When Master Windu tried to finish the Sith off, Anakin intervened, disarming Mace. However, Palpatine was going to take advantage of that and attack Mace, so I hit Palpatine, but we both started to fall out the window, but Anakin caught me. He could have caught the Sith instead, but he didn't.
"Kita—" Mace began, stepping towards Anakin once more, but Kita let out a snarl even more aggressive than before.
That's enough, Mace! You're not getting passed me, not in the state you're in! You need to see a healer and calm down! Kita said. Anakin had long since stopped laughing, but he was instead staring off at nothing in particular as if he didn't even know what was going on anymore.
Kita then sensed Obi-Wan approaching and she whirled to face him, giving him a baleful glare and growling. I said back off.
Obi-Wan paused and then gave Kita an equally hard look. "You say you want him to be treated like a normal Jedi, yet you won't let his Master take care of him? Don't get hypocritical on me, Kita."
Surprised, Kita's growling ceased. She hadn't been sure if Obi-Wan would just immediately assume the worst as well, but apparently that wasn't the case. Backing away, she allowed Obi-Wan to walk to Anakin, but she still watched Mace carefully. Thankfully, Shaak finally managed to start talking sense into him, convincing him to go to the healers.
Kita glanced at Anakin and Obi-Wan to see the latter whispering softly to his former pupil to try and snap him out of his daze. Since Anakin seemed safe and sound in his Master's care, Kita returned to the star chart room to ensure that the Bear Clan had been taken to bed and had avoided the fiasco, which was apparently the case. When Kita returned to the stairway she saw Obi-Wan helping Anakin to his feet. Anakin wobbled back and forth, his arms hanging limply at his sides as he dazedly tried to maintain his balance. Obi-Wan quickly took hold of him to steady him and began to walk in the direction of the Halls of Healing.
"Master… I didn't mean… I don't… I'd never…" Anakin panted as if he couldn't breathe.
Obi-Wan settled him with more soft words that Kita couldn't discern from the distance, but she didn't particularly care what was being said. What she saw was satisfying enough, and she nodded, departing to check on the other puppies who would be awakening by now.
The sleepless night left her tired, but stress from the situation was enough to keep her alert. By mid-morning Kita and all the Jedi expected some sort of attack on the Temple, but instead they received word from Master Yoda that Bail Organa and Padmé Amidala were working hard to handle the situation. Kita knew of their reputation, of course; the two were some of the most influential politicians in the senate. To know that the Jedi had such people on their side was the some of the best news Kita had heard in a long time. Master Yoda himself returned to the Temple later that day, and although the news had begun to break about the chancellor's death and secret identity, the clones were being subdued across the galaxy, the Separatists were falling apart at the loss of their final general, and word was that the political Separatist leaders were hiding on a small fiery planet called Mustafar. The war was ending, the crisis of the Jedi's existence seemingly averted, and one puppy's sanity was secured. All the stress and terror that had been building up were finally expelled by the afternoon, and Kita found herself trotting happily through her home once more as she watched Jedi celebrating.
It was all over now.
But damn, what a night.
I probably should say that this hasn't gone through much editing so there are probably a lot of errors that will be fixed later. Either way, reviews are always appreciated. :)